A16z Release Lattice Jolt as Cardano Expand Post-Quantum ZK Research

A16z crypto don introduce Lattice Jolt, wey replace Jolt previous elliptic-curve polynomial commitment system with one lattice-based construction wey dem design for post-quantum security.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson respond directly to Justin Thaler announcement, write, “Lol, there goes my weekend. Good work.” Im reaction come as Input Output Research dey continue work on related cryptographic primitives through the Cardano Vision research program, together with new infrastructure for verifying zero-knowledge proofs on Cardano Layer 1.

Lattice Jolt Replace Im Elliptic-Curve Commitment

Jolt na open-source zkVM wey dem design to prove the execution of RISC-V programs. Verifier fit check compact cryptographic proof instead make e no repeat the full computation.

The previous version use Dory, one polynomial commitment scheme based on elliptic-curve cryptography. Lattice Jolt replace am with Akita, one lattice-based commitment scheme wey dem build around the Module-SIS assumption.

LayerZero researchers develop Akita together with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Southern California and a16z crypto.

According to a16z benchmarks, Lattice Jolt dey process more than two million 64-bit RISC-V cycles per second for CPU. Proving and verification dey run about two to three times faster than the previous curve-based version, and proof sizes still dey below 100 KB.

Im Apple Metal GPU backend pass ten million cycles per second for MacBook hardware, and prover memory requirement don reduce reach about 200 bytes per cycle.

Cardano Research Include Lattice-Based SNARKs

Input Output Research don already include lattice-based cryptography inside Cardano longer-term zero-knowledge research program.

The work cover lattice-based SNARKs, folding schemes and polynomial commitments, wey Systematization of Knowledge support as e dey examine lattice-based folding and related proof constructions.

Polynomial commitments na core components for many modern proof systems. Akita apply lattice-based construction to that layer, while IOR dey study similar cryptographic primitives as part of im post-quantum ZK research.

Cardano broader program still cover recursive proofs and folding techniques wey dem design to compress bigger computations into succinct proofs. IOR don describe the planned ZK architecture as modular, so that cryptographic components fit evolve as new constructions dey become available.

Hoskinson response to the Lattice Jolt release add direct Cardano connection to development wey already dey operate inside the same research field.

Cardano Dey Build ZK Verification Infrastructure for Layer 1

Cardano zero-knowledge work don also dey move enter implementation-level infrastructure.

For im 2026 mid-year update, Input Output Research report new ZK verification infrastructure for Cardano Layer 1, including tooling for Groth16 proofs and work wey dey evaluate the cost of Halo2 verification on-chain.

The second half of 2026 go include more work on post-quantum security, succinct proofs and ZK rollups, together with continued research into the cryptographic primitives wey dem need to support dem.

Lattice Jolt now don demonstrate lattice-based commitment system inside working high-performance zkVM, with published results wey cover proof size, memory use and proving speed. Cardano own program dey advance through post-quantum research and Layer 1 verification tooling, while Hoskinson reaction put the new Jolt release directly for Cardano founder radar.